Connect with your social network account

On our way back from three days at Efteling and I can confirm that Symbolica does not disappoint!The three tours do not differ as much I would have expected or maybe wanted, but the theming is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. I found the ride to be truly magical and it looks as though it has always been there, it fits the park so wonderfully.

The park in general was looking great, after a very quick day trip in 2015 we were keen to return to experience everything properly and we certainly did that this time, we did our best not to miss a single attraction or pathway We timed our trip to coincide with the summer festival which has been held every Friday and Saturday of July & August, this was such a nice experience with the park full of lights, entertainment and food and a special extra showing of Aquanura which featured music by Tiesto. We stayed in the new Loonsche Land Hotel which opened earlier this year, at c€350 for two nights, three days park tickets and including breakfast, it was fantastic value. Excellent trip to a quality park, if anyone has any questions about the park then I'm happy to try and answer them.

It's great to see that Symbolica has lived up to your expectations! I've heard too many negative reviews on this ride, and even watching a video POV of the ride myself, was a little confused. Can I ask, does Symbolica have a clear story to it, or is it a bit more random? I have got the impression that it lacks a story to it and that let's it down, even when the theming is so good.

Hmm in that respect I guess it truly hinges on what you expect going in, I wasn't too bothered about a coherent story through the attraction as I just found every intricate detail and the overall feel of being in a magical environment was enough to keep me interested.

I can see how people would be disappointed if they expect the ride itself to tell a story the whole way through as it does not. After the introduction (in Dutch) it's more of a random wander through various scenes in the palace with no narrative, just as if you're wandering through exploring a new place.

Slight spoiler below about the ride vehicles incase anyone hasn't seen any making of and is avoiding any detail of the ride.

The only slightly disappointing aspect I found was that I thought there was going to be a little more interaction with the panels in the ride vehicle, the input that little riders (or big ones, but kids get prioritised for the front if there are any which personally I think is right) get is minimal and I think over a certain age they would be a bit 'meh' about it. That said, they way the vehicles are programmed to move round each other really is something pretty amazing.

The next big new attraction in the Efteling will be an intense big roller coaster. The Kaatsheuvels fairytale park wants to add a spectacular rollercoaster within a few years Looopings can announce first after conversations at EAS in Berlin. The addition is on schedule for 2019 or 2020. What rollercoaster type has not yet been decided upon. The plans are already at an advanced stage, but the Efteling Board is still waiting for the approval of the Supervisory Board. In any event, the new attraction will be extensively decorated. The roller coaster will be located on the edge of the park, on a new piece of eight acres between Vogel Rok and the Python. There the park have permission to build up to a height of fifty meters. The destination plan already mentioned an "image-determining attraction". Construction work begins in 2018. In recent years, the Efteling opened the thirty meter high dive coaster Baron 1898 (18 million euros) and the interactive Darkride Symbolica (35 million euros).

It's a couple of months old, but just spotted this in the Efteling app.

Efteling have come up with possibly the best use of VR in a theme park so far.

Droomvlucht VR is designed for guests who have disabilities that prevent them from riding Droomvlucht. The VR is the full ride, along with smell and wind effects. Further to that, the other members of their group ride Droomvlucht at the same time with the VR synced to their ride. Everyone is given a headset/microphone so that they can all talk with each other throughout the ride.

Of all the gimmicky ways that VR has been used so far, I'm glad that Efteling have found a novel use that allows greater accessibility to their attractions.

I remember hearing about this when it was announced. Absolutely one of the best uses for this type of technology I've seen at a theme park! This type of technology should always be about making guests experience better and this is one of those rare instances which it is truly making a difference.

What a fantastic idea! It's always great to see parks making an effort to combat inequality in the guest experience. The future of theme parks will certainly be interesting as VR and similar technologies improve and with it the increasing possibility of making ride experiences more inclusive.

Efteling have announced that they are going to allow on-ride filming on all of their rides and attractions, using Go-Pro equipment. What I think is actually pretty clever is that in allowing people to film using this method, it will reduce the number of people who would otherwise just take on a mobile phone, which would be more likely to cause an accident. In other words, actually allowing people to film safely, and the park actually putting in some effort to do the safety checks etc., will actually be more effective than an outright ban on on-ride filming. I can really see it working well!

Looopings have reported that Symbolica and the Fantaiserijk area will be receiving Harry Potter style magic wands in Autumn.

The Efteling will sell interactive wands next autumn. With the so-called Twinkeltoortsen, visitors will soon be able to activate special effects in and around the newest Symbolica attraction. That has let the amusement park know.

The Twinkeltoorts is the magic weapon of Pardoes de Tovernar, the main character of Symbolica. He treats guests to a guided tour through the secret rooms of the Palace of Fantasy. In the attraction, the fool keeps the striking attribute in his hand.

[color=#212121]"With an interactive Twinkeltoorts you will be able to bring the magic to life at seven points in the theme area Imaginative", says design coordinator Peter Koppelmans. "In the scenes of Symbolica, the interactive torches clearly respond to the magic of Pardoes." He promises that the work will take place as much as possible outside opening hours.

The Limburg theme park Toverland was the Efteling. Since 2008, visitors have been able to put effects into effect with the help of wands in a covered walkthrough attraction. In addition, interactive wands will be sold from next month in the new Port Laguna entrance area.

A year after the opening, the Efteling is not entirely satisfied with the dark ride of 35 million euros. "Certainly at a new attraction like Symbolica we keep a close eye on whether there are any improvement points," says Koppelmans. Blinking lights, a moving gondola and a floating cake have been added in recent months. From today, passengers feel falling drops in one of the scenes. "This way we take the guest even more into the story."[/color]

It's random improvements like this that make Efteling so special! However it is interesting that they've decided to go down the wand route, which makes me think that they're striking competition with Toverland which are doing a similar idea.

Translation;Finally we can report it: The Bob will open again next Thursday! however, this job no longer has eternal life.That is why, in the spring of 2020, we open the double roller coaster Max & Moritz, a wink to the German story of Wilhelm Busch.

So Bob will be leaving towards the end of next year. It is at least reopening in the meantime though after undergoing weeks of maintenance to solve a technical issue.

Wow, that's a nice surprise announcement. Sad to hear that Bob is at the end of its life, it was a fun little ride but I can see why they're closing it. Interesting to hear that they're once again opening two coasters, but what's interesting is that they apparently aren't racing like Joris.What's also interesting to hear is that there's set to be a new area in 2021, according to this tweet.

Because we have decided to open Max & Moritz in 2020, we are taking more time for the new area.We want to open a theme area with a new attraction and a few smaller attractions in 2021!